Tuesday, September 29, 2009

We're gonna talk about girlbits and menopause today. They give you a big lecture about girlbits when you start your period, but you are on your own when you stop. 100 years ago, I would have been dead already, so we are talking.

My period started the day we put Sug down (Aug 30). It's still going. For about a week, it got BAD, and I am used to real periods, real run to the bathroom every hour periods. So when I say it was bad, it was insane.

I went to the VA, and they called me back because they wanted to give me a transfusion. Then they sent me a coupon for a hysterectomy from the civilian provider of my choice. The meds they gave me were ok-but notice I still have my period?

I went to see him this morning. He said "I expected your uterus to be the size of a grapefruit, but yours seems to be the size of a watermelon" because of my fibroids.

I looked at the tech and mouthed "CRAP!" and said "Oh, please, don't you mean cantaloupe?"

So a hysterectomy seems to be the biggest balloon on the horizon. I can't help but wonder if I didn't have military and VA healthcare, would my miscarriages have been prevented? I had an exam last year, not a peep from my provider. Makes you wonder, but not too hard, because fretting over that is futile.

I feel cheated.

In other news, here's mitten one. Good pattern, the thumb is a little long. I told DH we need to go somewhere cold.

Monday, September 28, 2009

I am still working on the Lace Leaf tank from earlier this summer, the Clara Dress (I found a bit of an oddity on that pattern; I am creative enough to muck up the pattern so that the skirt eyelets swirl.....a design variation!) I frogged the mohair loop and wool, and am making a pair of plain mittens now because that's what I want to do.

It doesn't get cold enough here to need mittens. If I can, I will make a hat or headband to go with. Also not cold enough here.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Lookie lookie at what I found on ebay. Teeny tiny little copper cloisonne medallions (1cm) in the Fuji pattern. That's so exciting! The larger one is the size of a quarter. The only issue I have with it is that it's been chemically cleaned, so now it's rough and nasty. How do you restore 50 years of patina?

The design is my family's kamon. It's called Fuji, but it has nothing to do with the mountain. It's wisteria. I happened upon it years ago, while reading East West Quilts. My brother, looking over my shoulder, grabbed the book and said "Hey, that's on our grandparent's grave!" Indeed it is, and we've been wearing it out ever since. My shoemaker grandpa would be proud. Or maybe he'd pronounce us all "Baca!" and shrug. No telling.

I later learned that this kamon is kind of the "one size fits all" crest-it's like being named Johnson or Smith. Ah, well, we still have a crest, and I am excited that I have the medallions. I need findings to make some Christmas gifts.

You know that old saw about how the shoemaker's kids never have shoes? Well, the same thing can happen to knitting grandmas. I have been remiss on grandkid knitting. Remember I have a stash grandkid? I tracked down the dress from the SOAK ad. (I had to buy the yarn to get the pattern-but don't think I want to make an alpaca dress-because you know it would get felted. You just KNOW.) I am working on it in Zarina. And I have to work on something for the small boy too, and Christmas stockings. Fortunately, all family knitting is relatively small. Like the people I have to knit for.

I was so annoyed. And ramped up a litany of stomping, grumping, "disgust of my self" ... in my mother's voice. And it made me laugh, because my mother has been dead 9 years, yet I still can hear her crabbing about miscrossed cables.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Do you remember that scene from "A Christmas Story"? That went thru my mind last night as I opened a box I THOUGHT was my new circs. It was a bottle of cod liver oil.

You see, back in July I entered a recipe contest for a recipe made with fish oil. As it turns out, I didn't win....but I have a lovely bottle of fish oil so that I may try again next year. That's not a bad thing. It's funny, but it's not bad.

I've had a few emails asking me what's going on, why are you anemic? It is a scary thing when the VA calls you up and says "come back for a transfusion," because they don't move quickly on a lot of things. At the ripe old age of 49, my girly bits are giving me trouble, and I am about to kick the little vagrants out. We'll just say that it's been a rough 2 weeks, mmmk? I FB'd both of my direct peer cousins to ask if they had trouble, and yes, it seems to run in the family.

Thank you for asking. It's weird seeing yourself turn paler, and waxy looking. I swear, I was sporting a porcelain complexion!

The up side of that is that DH has been my gofer this week. It's funny-I asked him to pick up some onions and potatoes-he brought 5 lbs of onions, and two potatoes. I asked him for coleslaw (meaning, shredded cabbage mix) and he picked up a tub of deli coleslaw, all the time wondering "What does she want THIS for?" But we can all joke about it a little now.

People with pronounced anemia can't mop floors. ;-) Or so I say. My nail beds are starting to pink up when you press and release on them, so I think that's a good sign. My iron supplements from the grocery are 27 mg elemental iron, and the ones from the VA are 324 mg ferrous gluconate. I think of those as pig iron. Now that I examine them, I wonder if dietary iron will respond to a magnetic field. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

I went to the doc's today, and my iron levels are such that I can use that phrase with confidence. In addition, they called me and gave me instructions to go to the hospital for a transfusion if I do not improve.

Monday, September 07, 2009

I am so excited. We decided to try going somewhere cooler for Christmas, so that means I can knit something a little bit heavier!!! I told you about my needle bargain.

I discovered when I moved my stash that my biggest yarn disappointments were from a specific East Coast dyer. I ignored their sale UP TIL THIS MORNING. I can only have so much discipline. They had my favorite Giant Loopy Mohair on sale. I caved.

I bought enough yarn for two projects, but only things I was pretty sure I would love.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

It's been a tough week. It sucks being without a dog, and tho I have no regret over the decision we made, I miss her every day. I've had some very specific health challenges that frankly, I need help with. I fully intend to act on them.

I've been playing with my bag of Rainbow Adara this week. I had an idea for a project, and set on it like a house on fire. I'm 25% done.

I have been really steady on my project. I came up with a good concept, noodled a few ideas, swatched a little, had two or three false starts. Then I got busy.

A day ago, I questioned my color placement. Was it really the best possible arrangement? (I'll confess, I was pulling them out in the order they were bagged.)

An hour ago, I was questioning the stitch placement of a row of garter stitch.

I just questioned the viability of another row of patterning.

These flaws are not show stoppers, but they are exactly the flaws that make my project less than fab. I'm not having it. Time to frog.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Don't you think that a rainbow bag of yarns is like a bag of candy? I have an inspiration, and am struggling with the execution. I've had a few false starts. And I am still chugging away at that Katrina top.